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Reply to "Staying well-armed ... Young pitchers are increasingly at risk of injury"

Good post Coach Rob.

A lot of this is a matter of opinion and how it is perceived.

My son didn't throw a true CB in HS more like a slurve but did not rely on it for success. He threw a 4 seam, a 2 seam (with different grips) and a CU 9with different grips) and he did just fine in college and at the next level until he began throwing a true slider and developed shoulder then elbow problems (again only after he began relying more on the slider).

So I truely believe that the slider is a very harmful pitch. He began throwing a cutter at the end of last season, now being a reliever, his secondary stuff does not have to be AS important as his 96-99 mph fastball or his 88-89 sinker (both with lots of movement).  Movement becomes more important the higher one goes up the ladder.  If your FB doesn't have that movement, you better have a good secondary pitch to keep them off balance or you are not going anywhere.

 

First and foremost the FB, no matter how "fast" it may be, needs to be THE most important pitch for ANY pitcher.  Not the straight down the middle FB, but the one that moves up, down, inside, outside and this DOES take a long time to command, so yes, do not let your young pitcher give up this pitch for the breaking ball.

I do not agree with everything being said, but I agree that the CU is much different at the pro level.  A HS pitcher with good FB with movement and a decent change will get lots of opportunities at the college level, the velocity being the game changer. 

Yes pitching fast can cause injury, mix that in with CB, slider and overuse WILL cause injury. I leave out CU for reasons discussed.

 

I also believe that for many tossing past 120 feet can be harmful.

 

Coach Rob is definetly got it right. You will not see that many injuries in pitchers in the really good programs because they know how to use their staff, know how to develop good pitching by montoring pitch counts and know how to do specific pitcher conditioning off season as well as in season.

 

He is also correct in the statement that any pro pitcher that throws a slider knows the implications and many abandon the pitch after they develop elbow issues. If this causes issues in mature pitchers why would you want your HS pitcher throwing one?

 

 

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